hi
i was hoping you would help us. we are travelling to the USA next year for the mid american truck show in Louisville Kentucky and we are staying on for a month. we have a 2 yo dd and our plans are tentatively as follows:
fly to Louisville, DH does work stuff and we play.
drive around Kentucky: any suggestions? i think the Shaker Inn looks interesting...
then we don't know if we will drive from kentucky up through pennsylvania (amish country) to montgomery (american choppers) and through to NYC.
so any suggestion on this would be great. the other option is to fly to NYC and go to montgomery and Pennsylvania from there and then up to Cape Cod/Portland, Maine area.
after that we will fly to las vegas for a week to shop/veg out/have fun as DH has never been
THEN,
we are undecided whether to go to LA disney land for afew days (i think dd will be too young) or up to sanfransisco and cruise down to LA from there stopping via Berkeley/big sur/pebble beach/perhaps napa again..

another option is to leave out maine area and do more of west side USA

what do you think?

if there are any other areas you suggest we would love your advice on anything from great accommodation to sightseeing to whatever!

please help!

lilysmum xxx

Bumping for you incase anyone has some suggestions (Though I personally think NC is worth a peek )

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I think you should not for go the New England states! Its like no other place in our country. It is full of charm, history, seaports, beaches, parks and some other great stuff. We see all 4 seasons here. We also have 2 of the largest casino resorts in the world at my backdoor, and there is tons of Native American history that is very intersting. The Oceans are 2 hours away, no matter where you are in New England, there is always something to see.

But don't ask me LOL Because I'm biased.

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Meghan7.Samantha6,Cameron4

Back together!! Sept 28th Boston TDCenter!! Woohooooo!

thanks ladies,
please keep the suggestions coming!
and where you would recommend and what to do there!
lilysmum

Louisville has several attractions - zoo, six flags (amusement park), Louisville Slugger museum, riverboats etc. I'm near Cinci - so if you choose to drive through to the NE I'd suggest a day or two around northern KY/Cincinnati OH as well - locally there's an aquarium, zoo, museum center (children's, natural history & cincinnati history) all have child friendly exhibits, Kings Island (amusement park).

Other points of interest in KY - Mammoth Cave (maybe 1.5 hours from Louisville), Kentucky Horse Park (Lexington, KY), Lake Cumberland (has beaches/marinas in several counties), Cumberland Falls (Corbin, KY)...if you drive through to Cincinnati at any point - Big Bone Lick State Park - I've never been, but I've heard good things.

Kentucky is my home...I grew up in the south and now live in the Northern part. Hope you have a wonderful trip!! Oh - and strangely enough I have a good friend who lives here currently that is from Australia - she and her dh mvoed her about 2 years ago with their 2 children. Unfortunately in a couple of weeks they're making their next big move to China for 2 years.

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Stephanie (27) & Virgil (31)
Caden 3 y.o. 11/28/04 29w preemie
Wyatt 17 mos. 9/25/06
#3 due 8/24/08

I would also spend some extra time up in the Northeast- I've never been there but I would really like to go visit there sometime!

If you or your husband are into baseball, definitely do the slugger museum. It is located downtown. The admission includes a tour of the factory, that is definitely the most interesting part. They will give you a mini bat at the end of the tour. If you are boxing fans, visit the Muhammad Ali center. Also, downtown. Isn't the truck show in March? If you plan on going to Six Flags(not open in March), more than once, buy a season pass. They are usually less than the cost of 2 full days admission price, plus if you go buy any more Six Flags, you can go to those parks too! It is probably going to be too cold for the zoo. You never can tell if it is going to be freezing or blustery and warm in March. If it is nice, then definitely go to the Zoo, your daughter will love it.

Definitely make plans to go to Mammoth Cave. It is the largest cave system in the world. It is amazing and you will regret not going. The aquarium in Newport, Ky(near Cincinnati) is a good day trip. Louisville has 3 very good shopping malls!

If you do decide to go New York, don't forget Niagara Falls. While in Vegas, you might want to visit the Hoover dam and while you are out west, can you really leave without viewing the Grand Canyon? While in California, go to Yosemite National Park, well worth the trip and one of this countries most amazing parks.

Finally, I am not familiar with Shaker Inn, so I can't tell you anything about it. If you let me know where it is located, I can tell you if it is a part of town that you would want to stay in or if you want to avoid and about how far it is from the fairgrounds.

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"He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money."
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California and the west are a whole trip unto themselves. I would not want to be in Vegas with a kid. For a while it was trying to appeal to families but now it is very much an adults playground.

I would do the whole East Coast. There is more than enough to see.

My bad I read next MONTH not next YEAR! LOL

If you do Mammoth Cave there's also a Kentucky Down Under near it - you can see how well the Kentuckians are representing your country.

Is Shaker Inn that you're speaking of part of Shaker Village? Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill | Kentucky Hotels Lodging & Inn At Shaker Village | Pleasant Hill KY It's a neat trip - I've not been in years, but it's a common elementary field trip.

Travelling in the winter would have me very tempted to do the west coast rather than the north east...but I think either trip would be an awesome opportunity.

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Stephanie (27) & Virgil (31)
Caden 3 y.o. 11/28/04 29w preemie
Wyatt 17 mos. 9/25/06
#3 due 8/24/08

I'm from the Northeast...it's great here! If you go to California, I do think a 2 year old wouldn't really like Disney World....the coastline (Big Sur is AMAZING) is a great drive, San Diego is great.